M4A3 (76) HVSS prepared for shipping overseas

1
November 25, 2020
Rear grille replaced by plastic card to give the same depth, so as to not waste the nice kit part
2
November 25, 2020
Grille, engine access door and exhausts taped up, using 1.5 mm wide strips cut from Tamiya masking tape, and secured in place by wiping superglue over it
3
November 25, 2020
Hull front with spare Dragon hatches, again so the nice Tamiya parts aren’t wasted.
4
November 25, 2020
Hull front with hatches, machine gun mount and headlight sockets taped up
5
November 25, 2020
Tamiya turret with a spare Asuka vision cupola and Italeri hatch, as using the Tamiya cupola would be a waste of a well-detailed part
6
November 25, 2020
Engine deck, turret front and muzzle brake taped up
7
November 25, 2020
Scratchbuilt pallet for engine deck
8
November 25, 2020
Pallet in place on engine deck (but still loose)
9
November 27, 2020
Crate for left side of engine deck
10
November 27, 2020
Suspension units with tie-down brackets added
11
December 4, 2020
Commander’s hatch and gunner’s periscope taped up, and springs on loader’s hatch cut away, with attachment points replaced by aluminium strip (most of which will be covered by tape later)
12
December 4, 2020
Loader’s hatch and periscope now also taped up
13
December 5, 2020
Both crates for the rear deck, the smaller from the earlier picture and now also the larger; both scratchbuilt from plastic card and very thin plastic sheet (Tamiya “pla-paper”)
14
December 5, 2020
Pallet with crates in place on the engine deck, though still loose
15
December 6, 2020
Acrylic gel put over the tape with a spatula, to fill gaps and (hopefully) suggest some folds that aren’t possible with just the tape; this was smeared in the direction of the tape, to avoid obliterating all the edges
16
December 6, 2020
Rear deck with tail lights covered in tape, and holes for tools filled but not yet sanded down
17
December 7, 2020
Turret glued to hull, and gap between the two then closed with plenty more strips of tape
18
December 9, 2020
Tool brackets added to rear hull from aluminium plate, as tools would have been stowed inside and/or in the crates
19
December 9, 2020
“Comb device” added to hull front, with brake lock cable running through machine gun mount
20
December 10, 2020
Hull front now with headlight and horn guards, from an Asuka M4A3E2, which doesn’t need them
21
December 10, 2020
Springs added to loader’s hatch, from copper wire and a few bits of plastic strip
22
December 10, 2020
Rear deck with stowage shelf, taken from an ancient Italeri Sherman and detailed, because the Tamiya part is moulded in the open position
23
December 12, 2020
Sand shields, from an Asuka M4A4 so widened by 6 mm
24
December 12, 2020
All the bits except for the tracks
25
December 22, 2020
Model sprayed Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab overall
26
December 22, 2020
Added highlights in centres of panels, an overall black wash and drybrushing with lighter shades of olive (Revell 42 Yellowish Olive and 45 Light Olive)
27
December 22, 2020
Applied stars and shipping codes from Archer dry transfers
28
January 9, 2021
Markings added from various Archer dry transfer sets
29
January 9, 2021
Par-al-ketone waterproofing coating added with semigloss black paint, sprayed slightly not thin enough to get spatter effect, and deliberately not neatly
30
February 13, 2021
Track painted and installed … the wrong way round 🙁
31
February 13, 2021
Now both on correctly!
32
February 13, 2021
Right front of finished model
33
February 13, 2021
Left rear of finished model
34
February 13, 2021
Left side of finished model
35
February 13, 2021
Antwerp dock worker motioning for the crane to come closer

Commentaires

11 25 November 2020, 21:26

EnsignExpendabl
Following!

25 November 2020, 21:30

Ben M
will it be mounted on a flatcar?

27 November 2020, 21:35

Jakko ‌
Probably not, though I toyed with the idea. Two main reasons: first is that about the only available options for a flatcar are 1) German or 2) scratchbuilt. Though I can imagine captured German rolling stock being used by the Allies, reason No. 2 is that I hardly have the room to display the tank at the moment, never mind a flatcar that's twice as big 🙁

1 December 2020, 19:31

Ben M
There's 1 gauge 1:32 us flatcars in the model railroad universe

2 December 2020, 02:21

Jakko ‌
Have you got a link to that?

2 December 2020, 09:30

Ben M
Here's one that looks to be the right era: grw.trains.com/news/..del-products-flatcar

I believe MTH (Mike's Train House) also makes 1:32 US prototype flatcars from the 1940's era.

2 December 2020, 13:16

Ben M
Piko and Marklin also make or used to make them. I have some Marklin 1:32 us prototype flatcars on my garden railroad.

2 December 2020, 13:19

Jakko ‌
Thanks, I'll check that out and decide whether I have the room or not 🙂

3 December 2020, 09:22